The origins of the Cold War Up to 1945 the most dominant countries were European, Britain, France and Germany, by the end of the war however this was very different. The retreating German army had destroyed whole areas of towns and industries, and allied bombing had left most of Germany in ruin...

Joseph Stalin lived from 1879 till 1953. Stalin was one of the most ruthless communist dictators of all time. After Lenin's death, Stalin pushed his way to the top and was set out to make the Soviet Union into an industrial power. In 1928, Stalin proposed the Five Year Plans, which were t...

Throughout history, we have seen a number of leaders. Some have brought greatness to our world but we have also seen the destruction one powerful person can cause. However, this was not the case for Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin brought about great reform to the country of Russia throughout the reign...

Rise to Power Stalin first became interested in politics when as a theology student; he began reading illegal the works of political philosopher Karl Marx. He eventually gave up his religious education to devote his time to the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy. After be...

HOW DID STALIN ACHIEVE POLITICAL DOMINANCE BY 1929 By 1929, Stalin had attained total political dominance in the Communist party and this was due to a variety of factors caused by the death of Lenin and the leadership struggle that followed it. A major factor was Trotsky and his failures. Trotsky ...

Russia Under Stalin When Lenin's reign over the Soviet Empire ended in 1924, the future course of Communist policies and dominance of the party were cast into uncertainty. This insecurity in the Soviet nation was even further intensified by the rocky period of transition and the shaky events sur...

Changes within the Iron Curtain of Soviet Russia varied greatly based on the individual in power. Stalin represented a conservative and nationalist regime, which was later de-Stalinized by Nikkita Khrushchev. Yet this change was also reversed in some ways when Loenid Brezhnev took power and began...

U.S. - Soviet Relations The beginning of the Cold War between U.S. and Russia caused a major polarization across the World. Countries like Korea, Vietnam and Germany were split in half-one half would be democratic and the other communist. The fight for the sphere of influence became mmore of a ...

While Soviet and Chinese communism were both rooted in the ideas of Marxism, neither one of them was an accurate representation of true Marxism. In comparing the two different systems, we see that there are many differences between the Soviet idea of communism and the Chinese idea of communism. The ...

Joseph Stalin was born on December 21, 1879, and grew up in poverty. He was the only child in his family to grow to adulthood. Joseph was born to Catherine and Vissarion Djugashvili. Joseph's father was a drunk and beat his son and wife unmercifully. His father was a cobbler by trade and wanted his...

Through out history the world has seen strong and powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas that have come to have a major affect on a country. Leaders are usually driven by what they see as a desire to create a better and more perfect country. It seems that these leaders appear to have the p...

Both USA and USSR contributed to the slow evolvement of the Cold War, although I would accuse the USSR of being the more responsible of the two parties. Stalin's initial paranoid suspicions of the West gave him the need to cripple Germany to feel protected against future threats, and I believe that...

In the early 1950's Australia was rocked by the largest spy scandal in its history. In April 1954, a Soviet operative called Vladimir Petrov defected to Australia. His wife Evdokia followed him soon thereafter. It was an instant news sensation worldwide. What made it even more appealing as a ne...

Russian Prison/Labor Camps Following the Bolshevik takeover of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Soviets dismantled the broad spy networks of the czarist secret police, the Okhrana, but the new government kept all essential functions of that organization in place, replacing the c...

Eventually, empires and nations all collapse. The end can be brought about by many causes. Whether through becoming too large for their own good, being ruled by a series of out of touch men, falling behind technologically, having too many enemies, succumbing to civil war, or a combination: n...

Lenin said that it's possible to talk about creation of a Soviet Union (i.e. import of socialism) only when we are absolutely sure of socialism in our own country. Those who talk about restoration of the Soviet Union without having yet Soviet power in Russia itself, are not only being stupid, but cr...

Communism is a form of government where a society works toward the benefit of the community. When Russia rebelled against the monarchy held by the Czar, Lenin established communism as the new form of government. After his death, they appointed two new leaders: Lenin's faithful follower Joseph Sta...

Josef Stalin is perhaps the most praised, reviled and recognised dictator in the modern world. His influence as such has reached across the globe, affecting leaders and citizens alike. Many of his techniques have been adopted by prominent leaders, today and in the past. One such example is fellow s...

The first things that come to mind when the names Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler are mentioned are the cruel, tyrannical, inhumane acts they committed against their own people, and people of other nationalities. But, what one fails to see is the public works they sponsored, the ways they modernized t...

I am a person who believes that all people should be treated fairly. I believe in the freedom of thought, the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, but most of all the freedom to control ones own destiny. During his dictatorship Joseph Stalin stripped his people not only of freedom of ...

Joseph Stalin was a dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. He was a totalitarian leader, which is a government, which takes total control over every side of a public and private life. He became ruler of a country 1/6 of the worlds population. He is known as one of the world's most rev...

To just concentrate on Stalin's totalitarian terror does ignore his significant achievements, however the "end doesn't justify the means". Stalin was a proud man and was proud of Russia, he realised that Russia was a backward country and without pushing USSR to modernise it would...

The cold war erupted in 1945 for various reasons. To a large extent of hostility arose from the American's side, as well as from the Soviet's side. There were many things that occurred during 1945-1948, from the first conflicts between Russia and the U.S. in Iran to the Berlin Blockade i...

The United Stated played a very important role in World War two. We were the reason for an allied win, and we also sparked the technological advancements in weaponry that lead to a lot of the superior technology that now exist. It was because of the passion that the United Stated had for developing...

The United Stated played a very important role in World War two. We were the reason for an allied win, and we also sparked the technological advancements in weaponry that lead to a lot of the superior technology that now exist. It was because of the passion that the United Stated had for developing...